Private clinic opens in Montreal, offers surgeries

A new private health clinic is open for business in Montreal, offering customers day surgeries and access to family doctors.

"I'm meeting the doctors tomorrow, so you can see it's very fast," said patient Lorraine Charlebois. "And I think it costs about $100."

The owners of Rockland MD, located in the Mont-Royal area, call the clinic a "semi-private healthcare facility."

It has three permanent general-practitioner doctors who have opted out of the public system.

"I have the possibility of spending more time with the patients," said Dr. Myriam Abikhzer.

"If I was in the public system I'm afraid that maybe the volume of patients would not give me that possibility."

Patients must pay $75 to open a file at the clinic. After that, RocklandMD offers several services and surgeries that can be performed in a day, including:

Surgeons are covered by medicare while patients pay for everything else, including "the expense of having the nursing team and some of the equipment," said medical director Dr. Fernand Taras.

The price of a common hernia surgery is about $1,300. But with that cost, Taras argued that patients have less of a risk of getting an infection than if they were treated in a hospital, because the centre is located in a new building.

"The infrastructure was chosen with one floor for the operating rooms, to allow for better air flow and a dedicated ventilation system," said Taras.

Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard said RocklandMD does not have the first private operating rooms to open in the province.

Last month, the government passed a bill allowing patients to pay for knee, hip and cataract surgeries.

On the West Coast, a private clinic that promised to offer emergency room services continues to fight with the B.C. government over how it conducts its business.

The False Creek Urgent Care Centre had initially hoped to charge patients a $199 fee, but now bills the Health Ministry for services, just like any emergency room.

False Creek's Dr. Mark Godley has said the government is not paying the clinic enough money to cover its costs.

With a report by CTV Montreal's Tania Krywiak